Recommended Etiquette for Online Poker Players

In the same way that live, brick-and-mortar style poker games have their own set of unspoken etiquette rules to assist the game run smoothly and be made an enjoyable experience for all players at the table; the same is true for online poker as over the years it has developed its own unique set of online etiquette rules to help foster a more pleasant online atmosphere for all to enjoy.

Despite the fact that the software controls most of the manual movements that you would normally have to make for yourself in a standard live game, there are still a number of important factors that you need to manage which can cause damage to the quality of the game if they are abused. Although with online play, there is absolutely zero chance that you will get caught out by faux-pas such as string-betting or acting out of turn, nevertheless there are other things that you can do wrong. Below is a list of things we’ve compiled for you so that you can help the online games run as smoothly as you can contribute to it.

1] Make sure your internet connection is robust.

Ensuring that you have a reliable internet connection is not only beneficial to your own online poker game, but it’s beneficial to the rest of the players at the table as well. It can be very frustrating when you miss out on winning a big pot because you were disconnected, but it is just as frustrating for the other players if you are constantly forcing them to wait while you try to reconnect in the middle of and in between hands. Most poker room software allows you a set amount of time to try and reconnect to finish off the hand, so if you use this time on a regular basis you are slowing down the game for everyone else.

2] Remember to pay attention at the table(s)

When it is your turn to act, you are given an allocated amount of time in which to make an action. The software is usually quite generous with the amount of time that they give you; so try to only use the amount of time that is necessary before making a decision. By no means should you try and rush every decision you make, but if you are not paying attention and let the timer run for a long time before making a decision every time then it can become a little tedious for the other players at the table.

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3] Don’t abuse the chat box no matter what!

The chat box is useful for light discussion about poker and other matters. The chat box should not be used to berate other players at the table or to tell other players about your ability. The other players are not interested in how good a poker player you think you are or how bad you thought their play was. There is no benefit from making offensive or annoying comments in the chat box, and you will only end up having some of the players out to get you. The chat box is a privilege not a right, and the poker room moderators can easily take you ability to chat away from you.

4] Discussing hands that you folded is a NO-NO!

When you are not in a hand, you should not talk about the cards that you folded whilst other players are still participating in the same hand. If you discuss what cards you mucked then it could give other players in the hand an advantage if they know what will not come out on the board, so don’t influence play by letting other players know information that they shouldn’t. This kind of behaviour is frowned upon both in live and online play.

The good thing about online poker is that the software helps keep you from making simple etiquette mistakes by having more control over the way you bet and act. Just remember that poker live and online is meant to be enjoyed by yourself and the other players, so try your best to make it that way.